We, the members of the Constitution Party, gratefully acknowledge the blessings of our Lord God as Creator, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe and of this Nation. We hereby appeal to Him for aid, comfort, guidance and the protection of His Divine Providence as we work to restore and preserve this nation as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights established a republic under God, rather than a democracy.

Our republic is a nation governed by a Constitution, which is rooted in Biblical law, administered by representatives who are Constitutionally elected by the citizens.

In a republic governed by Constitutional law rooted in Biblical law, all life, liberty and property are protected because law rules.

We affirm the principles of inherent individual rights upon which these United States of America were founded:

That each individual is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of the individual’s personal interest;

That the freedom to own, use, exchange, control, protect and freely dispose of property is a natural, necessary and inseparable extension of the individual’s unalienable rights;

That the legitimate function of government is to secure these rights through the preservation of all domestic tranquility, the maintenance of a strong national defense, and the promotion of equal justice for all;

That history makes clear that left unchecked, it is the nature of government to usurp the liberty of its citizens and eventually become a major violator of the people’s rights; and that, therefore, it is essential to bind government with the chains of the Constitution and carefully divide and jealously limit government’s powers to those assigned by the consent of the governed.

The Constitution Party calls on all who love liberty and value their inherent rights to join with us in the pursuit of these goals and in the restoration of these founding principles. We speak for Americans: hardworking, productive, taxpaying men and women who constitute the backbone, and the heart, of the American republic and its economy.

These are the producers; these are the ones who should be “first considered and always remembered.” It is on their backs that government is carried, and it is out of their pockets that government is financed. Without them and without the product of their skills and their labors, there would be no source to fund the legitimate functions of government; and would be no charity to support the private institutions helping those in need.

No nation can survive if it fails to honorably address the problems which concern these citizens. To these productive but generally forgotten Americans, we offer this platform. It responds to their desires; it is the voice which speaks of them and for them as does that of no other political party.

–Abortion/Euthanasia/Right to Life-

The Constitution Party is on record as recognizing and putting first the sanctity of human life.

The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God’s image. The first duty of the law is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. It is, therefore, the duty of all civil governments to secure and to safeguard the lives of the pre-born.

To that end, the Constitution of the United States was ordained and established for “ourselves and our posterity.” Under no circumstances may the federal government fund or otherwise support any state or local government or any organization or entity, foreign or domestic, which advocates, encourages or participates in the practice of abortion. We also oppose the distribution and use of RU-486 and all other chemical abortifacients.

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution guarantees to each State a republican form of government. The taking of innocent life, including the life of the pre-born, may not be declared lawful by any institution of state or local government- legislative, judicial or executive. The right to life may certainly not properly be made dependent upon a vote of a majority of any legislative body.
Nor may that right depend upon a majority of justices on any court, including the United States Supreme Court. Therefore, although a Supreme Court decision is binding on the parties to the controversy as to the particulars of the case, it is not a political rule for the nation. Roe-v- Wade is illegitimate, contrary to the law of the nation’s charter and constitution. It must be resisted by all civil government officials, federal state and local, and by all branches of the government, legislative, executive and judicial.

In office, we will only appoint to the federal judiciary and to other positions of federal authority qualified individuals who publicly acknowledge and commit themselves to the legal personhood of the pre-born child. In addition, we will do all that is within our power to encourage federal, state and local government officials to protect the sanctity of the life of the pre-born through legislation, executive action, and judicial enforcement of the law of the land.

Finally, we condemn the misuse of anti-racketeering and other federal laws against pro-life demonstrators, and strongly urge the repeal of the RICO and FACE Acts as unconstitutional expansions of federal power into areas reserved to the States by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

Just as we oppose abortion-the taking of an innocent, pre-born life, so we adamantly oppose assisted suicide. We oppose any laws which condone or legalize euthanasia, the so-called “mercy killing”
of the aged, the ailing, the infirm. The concept of euthanasia is a dangerous move toward legalized termination of the non-productive, the unwanted, and the unprotected. A nation which has become inured to the slaughter of some 30 million innocent babies can all too easily slide into the Hitlerian-Sangerite goal of eliminating those it considers misfits, undesirables or non-productives.
Any physician or nurse who assists in the termination of innocent life is not worthy to be a member of the healing arts profession, which is one of the noblest of all callings.

AIDS-

The spread of AIDS is attributable to various causes, but principally to promiscuous homosexual conduct and drug abuse. Because of the failure of the federal government to protect the blood supply under its control from corruption, and because of policies which in fact encourage illicit sexual conduct and which otherwise place innocent citizens at risk, millions of non-homosexual, non-drug-abusing Americans have been given a death sentence.

Under no circumstances should the federal government continue to subsidize activities which have the effect of encouraging perverted or promiscuous sexual conduct. In the name of “safe sex”, hundreds of millions of tax dollars have been misdirected to organizations which contribute to the spread of AIDS by endorsing, implicitly and explicitly, perverse, immoral and unhealthy sexual conduct.

In all federally funded facilities and institutions, the policy of the United States government should be to protect the uninfected from any avoidable exposure which could place them at risk; not only from HIV and AIDS, but from all of the diseases. We believe that all HIV infection is a public health concern and not a civil rights issue.

Criminal penalties should apply to those whose willful acts of omission or commission place members of the public at toxic risk.

–Bring Government Back Home-

The closer civil government is to the people, the more responsible, responsive, and accountable it is likely to be. The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution makes clear that the federal government has only those powers which are explicitly delegated to it. All other rights and authorities are reserved to the states and to the people. We pledge to be faithful to this constitutional requirement and to work methodically to restore to the states and to the people control over legislative, judicial, executive and regulatory functions which are beyond the delegated scope of the federal government.

We stand opposed to regionalization or grouping of governments at any level, which results in removal of decision-making powers from the scrutiny of the people.

–Congressional Reform-

The Congress of the United States has become an overpaid, overstaffed, self-serving institution. It confiscates taxpayer funds to finance exorbitant and unconstitutionally determined salaries, pensions and perks. Most members of Congress have become more accountable to the Washington Establishment than to the people in their home districts. Both Houses of Congress are all too often unresponsive and irresponsible, arrogantly placing themselves above the very laws they enact, and beyond the control of the citizens they have sworn to represent and serve.

Abolish Congressional pensions.

Abolish federal pay for members of Congress, and restore provisions for per diem allowances.

It is time for the American people to renew effective supervision of their employees in public office, to restore right standards, and to take back the government. Congress must once again be accountable to the people, and obedient to the Constitution, repealing all laws that delegate legislative powers to regulatory agencies, bureaucracies, private organizations, the Federal Reserve Board, international agencies, the President and the judiciary.

The U.S. Constitution, as originally framed in Article I, Section 3, provided for U.S. Senators to be elected by the state legislators. This provided the states direct representation in the legislative branch so as to deter the usurping of powers that are constitutionally reserved to the states or to the people.

The Seventeenth Amendment (providing for direct, popular election of U.S. Senators) took away from state governments their constitutional role of indirect participation in the federal legislative process.

If we are to see a return to the states of those powers, programs and sources of revenues that the federal government has unconstitutionally taken away, then it is also vital that we repeal the Seventeenth Amendment and return to the state legislatures the function of electing the U.S. Senate. In doing so, it would return the U.S. Senate to being a body that represents the legislatures of the several States, on the federal level, thereby restoring the tremendously vital part of the designed checks and balances of power that our Constitution originally provided.

–Constitutional Convention-

We affirm the original text of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We affirm that the nation’s charter, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution contain the foundational law of the federal union. We condemn, therefore, all legislative, executive and judicial action that departs from the texts of the charter and the Constitution and their original meaning.

We oppose any attempt to call for a constitutional convention for any purpose whatsoever, because it cannot be limited to any single issue, and such convention could seriously erode our constitutionally protected unalienable rights.

–Cost of Big Government-

The only legitimate purpose of civil government is to safeguard the God-given rights of its citizens; namely, life, liberty and property. Only those duties, functions and programs specifically assigned to the federal government by the Constitution should be funded.

Since 1961:

Income tax collections have increased from $41 billion to $631 billion in 1996.

Social Security Taxes have gone up from $16 billion to $473 billion in 1996.

Corporate taxes have gone up from $21 billion to $177 billion in 1996.

Estate and gift taxes have gone up from $1.9 billion to $15.9 billion in 1996.

During that same period, federal spending has increased from less than $100 billion per year in 1961 to $1.6 trillion for the current fiscal year. Federal regulations are now costing the American people more than $739 billion per year.

Since 1981 the national debt has quintupled: from $914 billion to more than $5 trillion. Interest on that debt has soared from $9.12 billion in 1961 to $344.63 billion in 1996. It now costs more to service the debt than Uncle Sam collects in income taxes.

The federal government has turned into a tax-and-spend monster that is devouring the people it is supposed to be serving.

As the Declaration of Independence cried out, so it is today: The federal government “has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent out hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substances.” Just since 1961, at least 297 new federal commission, councils, public corporations, grants and management programs have been created -in addition to all those which existed beforehand.

The Constitution Party calls on all citizens to join in the drive to restore constitutional government and reduce the cost and controls of the federal leviathan. We must reduce the reach, the grasp, and the take of the federal government. It has grown too big, too expensive, too wasteful, too arrogant. Its cost has been at the expense of America’s families, imposing upon them financial burdens which require both fathers and mothers to work outside the home just to make ends meet.

We must restore to the state those powers, programs and sources of revenues which the federal government has usurped.

The Constitution Party calls upon the Congress and the Executive to disapprove and halt all federal expenditures which are not specifically authorized by the Constitution of these United States.

The President of the United States must use his constitutional veto power to stop irresponsible and unconstitutional Congressional appropriations, and use his constitutional authority to faithfully execute laws to refuse to spend any money appropriated by Congress to unconstitutional programs or in excess of constitutionally imposed tax revenues.

We call for the abolition of the Civil Service system which confers on government employees a “property right” in their jobs. The President should be able to determine who will carry out-free from subversion or opposition from the tax-paid personnel-those programs which he has promised the people to inaugurate and implement.

Turning back the “federal spending clock” by five years will not destroy the economy; in fact, it would revive it. Instead of having these monies confiscated and squandered by politicians and bureaucrats, we would return hundreds of billions of dollars to the taxpayers, so that Americans could spend or invest their own money as they choose. The productive private sector jobs created and the investment of capital released would not only put new life in the domestic economy, it would be an important assist in the drive to compete with foreign industries here and in world markets. The return of people’s money would create jobs and investment instead of having it confiscated and spent on non-productive, wasteful programs and pork barrels by politicians and bureaucrats.

–Crime-

Crime, in most cases, is to be dealt with by state and local governments. To the degree that the federal government, in its legislation, in its judicial actions, in its regulations, and in its Executive Branch activities, interferes with ability of the people in their communities to apprehend, judge and penalize accused lawbreakers, it bears responsibility for the climate of crime which as grown more destructive with each passing year.

We favor the unimpeded right of states and localities to execute criminals convicted of capital crimes and to require restitution for the victims of criminals. Federal interference with local criminal justice processes should be limited to that which is constitutionally required.

All who are accused of crimes, petty to capital, shall have a trial by jury upon request.

–Defense-

It is a primary obligation of the federal government to provide for the common defense, vigilant to deal with significant potential threats and prospective capabilities, as well as with perceived present intentions.

We oppose unilateral disarmament and dismemberment of America’s defense infrastructure. That which is hastily torn down will not be easily rebuilt.

In order to protect our territory, our armed forces, and our citizenry, we should immediately give notice of our withdrawal from the Nixon-Brezhnev Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which restricts full development and deployment of a strategic defense system. We condemn the decision to have no strategic defense system to be deployed before the year 2000.
We condemn the presidential assumption of authority to deploy American troops without the consent of Congress.

Under no circumstances would we commit U.S. forces to serve under any flag or command. We are opposed to any New World Order, and we flatly reject U.S. participation in any New World Army.

The goal of U.S. security policy is to defend the national security interests of the United States. We should be the friend of liberty everywhere, but the guarantor and provisioner of ours alone.

We call for the maintenance of a strong, state-of-the-art military on land, sea, in the air, and in space.

We urge the Executive and Legislative Branches to continue to provide for the modernization of our Armed Forces, in keeping with advancing technologies and a constantly changing world situation.

We support the maintenance of a strong and ready and well-equipped Reserve and National Guard.

Under no circumstances should we unilaterally surrender our military base rights in Panama. The sovereign right of the United States to the United States Territory of the Canal Zone has been jeopardized by the treaties entered into between the United States and Panama. Inasmuch as the United States bought both the sovereignty and the grant ownership of the ten-mile-wide Canal Zone, we propose that the Government of the United States maintain and protect its sovereign right and exclusive jurisdiction of the Canal Zone in perpetuity, and renegotiate the treaties with Panama by which the ownership of the canal was surrendered to Panama.

–Drug Abuse-

The Constitution Party will uphold the right of states and localities to restrict access to drugs and to enforce such restrictions in appropriate cases with application of the death penalty. We support legislation to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States from foreign sources. As a matter of self-defense, retaliatory policies, including embargoes, sanctions and tariffs, should be considered.

At the same time, we will take care to prevent violations of the constitutional and civil rights of American citizens. Arbitrary searches and seizures must be prohibited, and the presumption of innocence must be preserved.

–Education-

The upbringing and education of children is a fundamental right of their parents. We, therefore, support school choice-home, public, private, or parochial-for all parents of school children. We oppose “taxation without representation”-taxing parents for the support for the support of public schools while they are paying for private or parochial education for their children. In addition, parents, not the government should determine the curriculum and standards for their children’s education.

Since parents closely associate their children’s education with their religious training, and since the federal government is not to interfere with the people’s religion and since the Constitution grants the federal government no involvement in education, we call on Congress to end all federal participation whatsoever in education.

Ending federal participation in education will include, but not be limited to, abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. Under no circumstances should the federal government be involved in educational curriculum, textbook selection or learning standards, including comprehensive sex education, and psychological and psychiatric research programs and personnel.

The national charter of the National Education Association should be revoked and that association placed on the same footing as other trade and professional unions.

Because control over education is now being relegated to departments other than the Department of Education, we clarify that no federal agency, department, board or other entity may exercise jurisdiction over any aspect of children’s upbringing.

Education, training and discipline of children is properly placed in the domain of parents.

Since the theory of evolution is an essential fundamental doctrine of Humanism, and since Humanism has been correctly defined as a religion by our Supreme Court, we call on the States to remove atheistic religious doctrine from our children’s textbooks, and leave religious training to parents.

–Education/School Safety-

Whereas it is the duty of those who operate our educational system to teach our children and to protect them while in that so-called “learning environment;” and

Whereas there have been more and more sensational tragedies perpetrated in our schools by armed terrorists against unarmed students and teachers, these murderers each trying to outdo the previous ones they saw on television; and

Whereas the problem is not the presence of guns in the hands of responsible citizens, but the absence of them,

Be it therefore resolved that we call for the “Israeli Solution” to be employed in our State schools, whereby certain teachers and staff and parents be allowed to carry weapons on their persons at all times.

–Election Reform-

The Constitution Party seeks the restoration of an electoral process which is controlled at the state and local levels and is beyond manipulation by federal judges and bureaucrats. The federal government has unconstitutionally and unwisely preempted control in matters of district boundaries, electoral procedures, and campaign activities.

The Voting Rights Act should be repealed. The Federal Election Campaign Act, including its 1974 amendments, and the Federal Election Commission should be abolished.

Each citizen should have the right to seek public office in accordance with the qualifications set forth in the federal and state constitutions. Additional restrictions and obligations governing candidate eligibility and campaign procedures unconstitutionally burden the fairness and accountability of our political system.

We urge an end to electronic or mechanical voting processes, and urge a return to the manual counting process overseen by, and accountable to, voters resident in each precinct where the votes are cast.

–Energy-

We call attention to the continuing need of the United States for a sufficient supply of energy to sustain the nation’s standard of living and its agricultural, business and industrial activities.

Private property rights should be respected, and government should not interfere with the development of potential energy sources, including natural gas, hydroelectric power, solar energy, wind generators, and nuclear energy.

We also encourage the use of coal, shale and oil sands for the production of power, and the conversion of coal, shale and agricultural products to synthetic fuels.

We oppose any increase in federal fuel taxes and insist that, so long as such taxes are collected in any amount, all of their proceeds should be used exclusively for the maintenance of interstate highways.

–Environment-

It is a prime responsibility of a man to be a prudent, productive, and efficient steward of God’s natural resources. In that role, man is commanded to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish the earth and develop it-to turn deserts into farms and wastelands into groves. This requires a proper and continuing dynamic balance between development and conservation; between use and preservation.

The proper exercise of stewardship demands that we avoid the extremes; that we escape the deadly hand of government confiscation; that we recognize and preserve the right of the individual to acquire, own and use his property so long as he does not infringe upon the rights of other individuals to do the same.

The progress and well-being of society requires that the best interests of human beings must be accorded preference to so-called animal rights. This is not to say that the preservation and care of the creatures of the forest, field and water is not part of stewardship: they are; but when we choose between an owl or snail darter and the jobs of American citizens and the well-being of their families and children, the families must be valued above plants and animals.

We wholeheartedly support realistic efforts to preserve the environment and reduce pollution-air, water and land. We reject, however, the argument that this objective ought to be pursued by costly governmental interference, accompanied by multitudes of regulations and the heavy hand of arrogant bureaucrats spurred-on by irresponsible pressure groups.

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution limits the federal power of eminent domain solely to the purchase of private property at fair market value for public use, such as military reservations and government office buildings; not for public ownership, such as urban renewal, environmental protection, or historic preservation. Under no circumstances may the federal government take private property without just compensation by means of rules and regulations which preclude or substantially reduce the productive use of the property.

We call for a return to the states and to the people all lands which are held by the federal government without authorization by the Constitution.

–Family-

We affirm that the law of the Creator creates and defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman, and the family. We further affirm that no state may authorize marriage and family relations contrary to that law. Therefore, no state is obliged by the full faith and credit clause of the United States Constitution to enforce any state law governing marriage the family which conflicts with the law of the Creator.

–Federal Aid-

Whereas the Constitution says that the Powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the States or the people; and

Whereas so-called “federal aid” in areas not authorized is unconstitutional, illegal and immoral,

Be it therefore resolved that the State of Texas declines to accept all monies from the federal government for any purpose not specifically and clearly articulated in the Constitution, and rejects all Federal mandates and regulations which are unconstitutional, thus restoring the intended the balance of power between the States and their creation, the U.S. Government.

–Foreign Aid-

Ever since World War II, the United States has provided military and non-military aid to over 100 nations. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been poured down that bottomless pit-with little evident benefit to the safety and security of the American people. Not only have we given aid to our “friends”, but even to “neutrals,” by means of which aid we hoped to buy their “friendship.” Finally, we are now committing ourselves to send the taxpayer’s dollars to those who have been our enemies for years. This must stop!

The Congress and President have a duty to provide for the defense of this country, but the American people have no similar duty to provide for the defense of any foreign nation. Further, the U.S. Government has no constitutional authority to tax the American people to provide aid of any kind to foreign governments.

Therefore, the Constitution Party calls for the termination of all programs of foreign aid, whether military or non-military, to any foreign government or to any international organization, including the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank and other similar institutions.

–Foreign Policy/New World Order-

The only constitutional purpose and basis of foreign policy is to serve the best interests of the U.S., not to police the world. We pledge our allegiance to the American Republic. We say “No!” to any so-called New World Order or to any one-world government. Not one whit of American autonomy may be given up to any international organization or group of nations. We oppose entangling foreign alliances. NATO no longer serves a defensive purpose and the U.S. must withdraw from it.

The Constitution Party strongly opposes any alliance of participation in any treaty or agreement which compromises our independence as a nation, or which subverts our Constitution by improperly committing us to participation in foreign conflicts or intervention in foreign wars.

All treaties must be subordinate to the Constitution, since the Constitution is the only act which empowers and limits the federal government.

The United States must not enter into agreements which would have an adverse impact on the security and safety of this nation.

The Constitution Party calls on the United States to withdraw from the United Nations and to require the U.N. to move out of the United States.

The United States should withdraw from all international monetary and financial institutions and agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMP), World Bank, WTO, NAFTA, GATT, etc.

Under no circumstances shall any international power or agency levy a tax on American citizens.

–Gun Control-

The right to keep and bear arms is inherent in the right of self defense, defense of the family, and defense against tyranny, conferred on the individual and the community by the Creator to safeguard life, liberty and property and that ofhis family, as well as to help preserve the independence of the nation.

The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution; it may not properly be infringed upon nor denied.

The Constitution Party upholds the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms. We oppose attempts to prohibit the ownership of guns by law-abiding citizens, and stand against all laws which would require the registration of guns or ammunition.

We emphasize that if guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have them. In such circumstances, the peaceful citizen’s protection against the criminal would be seriously jeopardized.

–Health Care and Government-

The Constitution Party opposes the governmentalization and bureaucratization of American medicine.
Government regulation and subsidy constitutes a threat to both the quality and availability of patient-oriented health care and treatment.

Hospitals, doctors and other health care providers should be accountable to patients and State regulations-not to politicians and the federal government.

Since the federal government has no constitutional provision to regulate or restrict the freedom of the people to have access to medical care, supplies or treatments we advocate returning these activities to the States respectively. We further advocate the elimination of the federal Food and Drug Administration, as it has been the federal agency primarily responsible for prohibiting beneficial products, treatments and technologies here in the United States, that are freely available in much of the rest of the civilized world.

We believe parents and citizens should have freedom of choice concerning immunization without penalty or discrimination.

–Immigration-

We affirm the integrity of the international borders of the United States and the constitutional authority and the right of the federal government under the law of nations to guard and to protect those borders, including the regulation of the numbers and of the qualifications of immigrants into the country.

Each year numerous illegal immigrants enter the United States. These illegal immigrants have been made eligible for various kinds of public assistance including housing, education, social security, and legal services. This unconstitutional drain on the federal treasury is having a severe and adverse impact on our economy, increasing the cost of government at national and local levels adding to the tax burden, and stressing the fabric of society.
We favor the immediate termination of all federal subsidies and assistance for illegal immigrants.

We also insist that every individual group and/or private agency which requests the admission of an immigrant to the U.S. on whatever basis be required to legally commit to provide housing and sustenance for such immigrants, bear full responsibility for the economic independence of the immigrants, and post appropriate bonds to seal such covenants.

The Constitution Party demands that the federal government restore immigration policies based on the practice that potential immigrants will be disqualified from admission to the U .S. if, on the grounds of health, criminality, morals or financial dependency, they would impose an improper burden on the United States, any State, or any citizen of the United States.

We oppose the provision of welfare and other taxpayer-supported benefits to illegal aliens, and reject the practice of bestowing U.S. citizenship on children born to illegal alien parents while in this country.

We support the Immigration and Naturalization Service, in the proper screening of immigrants, the apprehending and deportation of illegal aliens, and the protection of our borders.

We oppose bilingual ballots. We insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation should be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship. We support English as the official language for all governmental business by the United States, and of all individual States.

–Individual Rights-

Human dignity is a basic right recognized in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers. We affirm that human beings are created equal by God and, therefore, should be evaluated on their individual merits.

We call for the elimination of all so-called affirmative action programs which substitute race, or creed, or other illegitimate criteria for merit.

Each and every citizen shall be free to choose his friends and associates, to offer, seek or refuse employment, and to rent or sell property without interference from the state. Further, businesses should be free to protect their employees by refusing service in any circumstance where the lives of the employees or property are perceived to be endangered.

–The Judiciary-

The United States Constitution does not provide for lifetime appointment of federal judges, but only for a term of office during good behavior. We strongly support presidential enforcement of the constitutional rule of good behavior, and urge the Congress to enact such legislation as is necessary and proper to enforce that rule.

We assert that judicial encroachment upon the enforcement powers of the executive and/or the lawmaking powers of the Congress is bad behavior. Likewise, ignoring, twisting, or perverting the plain English the common sense intent of the Constitution to conform to sitting judges’ concept of social or political correctness constitutes bad behavior.

We therefore call on the President and the Congress to review the judiciary record of all sitting judges, leading to potential impeachment of those who have shown an ongoing misunderstanding of, or brazen disregard for our Constitution and our Bill of Rights-restricting some unalienable rights while extending others to ridiculous and licentious extremes.

Congress must exert the power it possesses to prohibit all federal courts from hearing cases which Congress deems to be outside federal jurisdiction pursuant to Article III, Section II of the Constitution.

–Money and Banking-

Money is both a medium of exchange and a measure of a nation’s morality.

Properly established and guarded, it provides the citizen with an assured standard by which he can trade (exchange) his labors or property for a service or product he desires to acquire. The improper control (manipulation) of the money and banking system destroys the value of the citizen’s earnings, and investments, and brings untold misery upon the people. Indeed, it can spawn rebellion and anarchy, which shatters societies and topples governments.

The Founding Fathers established a system of sound and honest money designed to prohibit “improper and wicked” manipulation of the medium of exchange. Its purpose was to guarantee that the purchasing power of the citizen’s earnings would not be diminished or degraded between the time income is earned and the time it is spent; that it will not lose its purchasing power between the time it is invested and the time it is withdrawn.

Over the years, the federal government has radically departed from the constitutional principles of money and banking. The present regime of fiat money provides no restraint on the politicians’ and the monetary authorities’ power to debase the currency. Indeed, today’s monetary system is precisely what the Founding Fathers feared most and sought to prohibit constitutionally.

The results of these violations of the Constitution threaten the economic stability and indeed the survival of America’s republican form of government. Fundamental reform of the monetary and banking systems of the United States is imperative if this nation is to regain its political integrity and restore its economic health.

The Constitution Party calls for, and sees as vital, a return to the monetary and banking provisions set forth in the Constitution. Those rules define a system of money and banking relying upon free market principles, and prescribe what must be done:

Restore, as the nation’s official medium of exchange, the type of money the world has historically favored-commodity money; money capable of being coined or tendered as coin;

-Re-establish the quality of money which the international market recognizes as preeminent–silver and gold exclusively as the standard of the money of the United States;

-Adopt again, as the unit of money, the sound dollar of 371.25 grains (troy) of fine silver; and

-Leave determination of the ultimate supply of money up to the free market system of free coinage embodied in Anglo- American common law.

Further, we believe that to restore integrity, credibility and stability of the nation’s money and banking system, we must:

Declare unconstitutional:

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913; The seizure of gold coins in 1933;

The outlawing in 1934 of private contracts that called for payment in silver and gold.

Disestablish the Federal Reserve System.

Terminate the status of the Federal Reserve System.

-Restore to the constitutional monetary system that gold which was unconstitutionally seized from the American people in 1933 and which is now held by the U.S. Treasury.

We affirm the Fourth Amendment right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, including general and unwarranted electronic surveillance, national computer banks, and national identification cards. We also reaffirm that civil governments must be strictly limited in their powers to intrude upon the persons and private property of individual citizens, in particular that no place be searched and no thing be seized, except upon proof of probable cause that a crime has been committed and the proper judicial warrant be issued.

We further reaffirm the common law rule that protects the people from any search or seizure whatsoever, when that search or seizure violates the people’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

We deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action that deprives the people of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights under claims of necessity to “combat terrorism” or to “protect national security.”

We further deplore and vigorously oppose legislation and executive action expanding asset forfeiture laws that enable the confiscation of private property of citizens who have not, by their own criminal action, forfeited their property rights to the asset subject to forfeiture.

–Privacy-

The Constitution Party of Texas does not recognize the unratified Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

–Privatization-

There is no Constitutional basis for the federal government’s engaging in enterprises that are not authorized by the U.S. Constitution including, but not limited to, national parks, Amtrak; the TVA, the Oak Ridge uranium enrichment facility, or the regulating of Utah coal deposits.

Further, in violation of Article I, Section 8, Paragraph 17 of the Constitution, the federal government has vast areas of land under federal control which has nothing to do with the nation’s defense or seat of government. We call on the States to reaffirm their ownership and control of those lands currently and unconstitutionally identified as “federal” lands.

The Constitution Party calls for the federal government to divest itself of operations which are not authorized by the Constitution. We call upon the Congress to get the federal government out of such enterprises which compete with private free enterprise.

–Religious Freedom-

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

The plain English meaning of the First amendment is apparent to the common sense of every rational citizen-the people’s religion is none of the federal government’s business. Therefore, our Supreme Court grossly erred when they presumed to interpret and enforce laws that Congress is expressly forbidden to enact. The Court should have found the interfering with our religious expression in any place whatsoever outside the federal courts’ jurisdiction .

Every succeeding President, likewise, has violated his oath to defend our Constitution by allowing this judicial edict to be enforced. Congress also has neglected to counteract the Court’s infringement upon the legislative powers.

We commend the good intentions of Congress to pass a law “allowing” the Ten Commandments to be posted in public schools following the outbreak of mass murder in public schools. Our Constitution, however, grants no authority to the federal government to either allow or deny the religious expressions of the people in any place. Both the First and Tenth Amendments forbid such tyranny.

Believing the faithful adherence to our First, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to be sufficient restraint upon our federal government, we do not support a Religious Liberties Amendment. Our original Constitution is not at fault, but the violation of it by our federal government is.

We, therefore, call upon our Supreme Court to redress this grievance by nullifying all post-1947 federal court decisions regarding the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and by declaring the people’s religion outside the jurisdiction of the federal government.

Believing that federal government interference with the people’s religion is responsible for much of our social, moral, and family decay, we call upon the President by executive proclamation, and Congress by legislation to redress this grievance by declaring unconstitutional and unenforceable the Court’s edicts against the people’s religious liberty.

–Social Security-

The Social Security trust should not be a rainy-day fund which politicians can pirate, or from which they can borrow to cover their errors and pay for their excesses.

The Constitution Party supports legislation to require that the federal government meet its obligations and protect the Social Security funds as a trust which can be used only to fulfill its obligations to those who have contributed to the system.

To protect and enhance the return on payments made by Social Security taxpayers and prevent future defaults, we call for the transfer of all Social Security funds to accounts beyond the reach of politicians who improperly transfer funds from Social Security to help pay the price of other federal programs.

The Constitution grants no authority to the federal government to require its citizens to participate in Social Security.

The Party believes participation in Social Security should be voluntary for all citizens, including average American workers.

Additionally, the Party believes participants should have the option to opt out and place funds contributed into IRA’s or similar investments under the control of the individual, either at their place of employment or independently.

The Party supports privacy legislation to make it an offense for private parties to discriminate against individuals who refuse to disclose or obtain a Social Security number for other than lawful purposes.

We call for the removal of earning limitations on persons aged 62 and over, so that they may earn any amount of additional income they choose, without placing their Social Security benefits at risk.

We urge the repeal of those provisions of the Social Security system which penalize those born during the “notch years between 1917 and 1926, and argue that such persons be placed on the same benefit schedules as all other beneficiaries.

–Statehood-

We oppose any effort to confer statehood on the District of Columbia or any representation in the Congress comparable to that of an independent state in the federal union.

We oppose efforts to confer statehood upon the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico or upon territories owned or under the protection of the United States.

–Tariffs and Trade-

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations”, and “to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing” copyright and patent protection for authors and inventors.

Congress may not abdicate nor transfer to others these constitutional powers. We, therefore, oppose the unconstitutional transfer of authority over U .S. trade policy from the Congress to agencies, domestic or foreign, which improperly exercise policy-setting functions with respect to U .S. trade policy, and the unconstitutional transfer of authority over copyright and patent policy from Congress to agencies, domestic and foreign.

We favor the abolition of the Office of Special Trade Representative, and insist on the withdrawal of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and all other agreements wherein bureaucracies, institutions or individuals, other than the Congress of the United States, improperly assume responsibility for establishing policies which directly affect the economic well-being of every American citizen. We also favor more vigorous efforts to protect the copyright and patent rights of their owners in both domestic and foreign markets.

As indicated in Article I, Section 8: duties, imposts and excises are legitimate revenue-raising measures on which the United States government may properly rely. As Abraham Lincoln pointed out, the legitimate costs of the federal government can be borne, either by taxes on American citizens and businesses, or by tariffs on foreign companies and products. The latter is preferable to the former.

Similarly, we oppose other international trade agreements which have had the effect of diminishing America’s economic self-sufficiency and of exporting jobs, the loss of which will impoverish American families, undermine American communities, and diminish America’s capacity for economic self-reliance.

We see our country and its workers as more than bargaining chips for multinational corporations and international banks in their ill-and evilly-conceived New World Order.

The defense of the American nation and the preservation of its economic integrity is essential to the defense of the liberty and prosperity of every American citizen.

We will insist on strict federal criminal penalties for any officer of the United States government, or spouse thereof, who subsequently hires himself or herself out to represent any foreign government or other entity, public or private, with respect to influencing either public opinion or public policy on matters affecting U.S. trade with any such governments or other entities.

The indebtedness of the American government has dangerously contributed to making our economy more vulnerable to foreign takeover and manipulation. Particularly in the area of national security, foreign interests have thus been abetted in gaining access to America’s high-tech secrets under the guise of commercial enterprise.

We reject the concept of Most Favored Nation status, especially insofar as it has been used to curry favor with regimes whose domestic and international policies are abhorrent to decent people everywhere, and are in fundamental conflict with the vital interests of the United States of America.

–Taxes-

The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, gives Congress the power “to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States.”

In Article I, Section 9, the original document made clear that “no Capitation, or other direct Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” It is moreover established that “No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.”

Since 1913, our constitutional rights to life, liberty and property have been abridged and diminished by the assumption of direct taxing authority on each of us by the federal government.

We will propose legislation to abolish the Internal Revenue Service, and will veto any authorization, appropriation or continuing resolution which contains any funding whatsoever for that illicit and unconstitutional agency. We endorse ratification of the Liberty Amendment which would repeal the Sixteenth Amendment.

Moreover, it is our intention to replace entirely the current tax system of the U.S. government (including income taxes, Social Security taxes, estate taxes, inheritance taxes, corporate taxes, and fuel taxes) with a new approach based on the original design of our Founding Fathers.

To the degree that tariffs on foreign products are insufficient to cover the legitimate constitutional costs of the federal government, we will offer a “state rate tax” in which the responsibility for covering the cost of unmet obligations will be divided among the several states in accordance with their proportion of the total population of the United States, excluding the District of Columbia. Thus, if a state contains 10 percent of the nation’s citizens, it will be responsible for assuming payment of 10 percent of the annual deficit.

The effect of this “state rate tax” will be to encourage politicians to argue for less, rather than more, federal spending.

–Veto Authority-

Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution says: “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” Appropriations can be made in only two circumstances; either:

-A money measure passed by Congress and signed into law by the President; or A money measure enacted over a President’s veto.

-A President who enjoys the support of one-third-plus-one of the members of the House of Congress, has the constitutional authority to stop unwise and excessive federal spending.

We urge the President of the United States to use his veto power to terminate funding for all federal departments, agencies, and regulatory authorities which exist or operate beyond the bounds of the U.S. Constitution.

We condemn the line item veto as an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the President.

–Welfare-

God, who endows us with life, liberty, property, and the right to pursue happiness also authorizes individuals to care for the needy, the sick, the homeless, the aged, and those who are otherwise unable to care for themselves.

America’s welfare crisis is a government-induced crisis. Government, social, and cultural policies have undermined the work ethic, even as the government’s economic and regulatory policies have undermined the ability of our citizens to obtain work.

Charity, and provision of welfare to those in need, is not a responsibility of the federal government. Under no circumstances should the taxpayers of the United States be obligated, under penalty of law through forced taxation, to assume the cost of providing welfare to able-bodied individuals. Nor should taxpayers be indentured to subsidize welfare for persons who enter the United States illegally.

The message of Christian charity is fundamentally at odds with the concept of welfare rights. In many cases, the delivery of welfare by government is not only misdirected, but morally destructive. It is the intended purpose of civil government to safeguard the people’s lives, liberty and property-not to redistribute the people’s wealth, which is contrary to the Biblical command against theft.

We encourage individuals and families to fulfill their personal responsibility to help those in need through tithes, offerings and other acts of charity. The nation’s churches and synagogues should manifest their faith by supporting effective programs to assist those who are in need.

Executive Committee

Chairman - Gregg Woodcock

Secretary - Sharon Wade

Parliamentarian - Daniel New

National Committeeman

Jim Wade

Daryl Ware

Garrett Cradduck

Dr. John Blangero

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Random Quote

"There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations … who will raise up friends to fight our battle for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. … Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death" — Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775